Lane Kiffin admits he was surprised to see Zach Arnett be fired so quickly at Mississippi State
Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin will never coach against now-former Mississippi State head coach Zach Arnett in the Egg Bowl. The Bulldogs decided to move on from Arnett before he completed even a full season in Starkville.
It was a move that Kiffin admitted surprised him. It’s also a move that Kiffin feels is indicative of where the industry is right now.
“Yeah, it does,” Lane Kiffin said. “I mean, it’s not like it used to be. Used to be you had time to build things and you had years to sign classes and see them develop before people made a decision. So, that’s obviously not what’s going on.”
Zach Arnett was Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator under Mike Leach. When Leach passed away, Arnett coached the Bulldogs in their bowl. He then became the head coach for the 2023 season. However, after a 4-6 start, Mississippi State decided to hit the restart button.
“To be let go 10 games into your first season when you got hired late, like Zach, really I don’t know how you do that that fast. I don’t know how the expectation is to judge you that fast about the job that you did. Unfortunately, it’s kind of the thing to fire people fast. To me it’s kind of the grass is always greener, so you know, it is what it is.”
There are a lot of reasons to fire a coach and every situation is unique. However, between things like the transfer portal and National Signing Day being in December, teams want to have their coach in place as quickly as possible. Firing someone mid-season allows teams to make a hire more quickly.
For his part, Lane Kiffin does know what it’s like to be in Zach Arnett’s shoes. He’s been fired by jobs in both the college and NFL level. So, it does seem like he has real empathy for Arnett in this situation.
Nick Saban reacts to Jimbo Fisher, Zach Arnett being fired
Along with Zach Arnett, Jimbo Fisher was recently fired in the SEC. In the wake of those firings, Alabama head coach Nick Saban shared his reaction.
“I don’t ever like to see anybody get let go, whatever you want to call it, in this business. I know how hard everybody works, I know how difficult it is to sort of build a program, to get players to compete at a high level on a consistent basis, and just have a lot of respect for people who really work hard to try to change the lives of the guys that they’re coaching. Make them better, help them do the right things in terms of getting an education as well as trying to develop them on the football field,” Saban said.
“But we are in a business that you get evaluated based on outcomes and your performance and I hate to see anybody have to go through this. I’ve been fired before. It’s no fun. It’s no fun for your family, but I’m sure that both those guys have great reputations in terms of what they’ve been able to accomplish over the course of their career and I’m sure they’ll have many more opportunities to be successful in the future.”